EdCircuit Staff 
Diane Kornegay 
Diane Kornegay, the superintendent of Lake County Schools in Florida, is encouraged by the communication possibilities emerging between educators and parents. She is taking the necessary steps to promote an environment of improved information sharing. Initially, teachers had asked for more access to Twitter and Facebook to communicate with parents and others in the community about what was happening in the school — but the district at the time had a policy that explicitly prohibited social media access in the school.
Ensuring Parents
“We put together a social media policy,” she says. “We’ve opened up the doors for that, so they have great access to technologies and they can engage parents. They asked for it and we were able to provide it. There’s always the fear of opening up a door with technology and the problems it can bring in the classroom, but we’ve been able to overcome them and ensure that we have an avenue to reach parents via social media.”
Diane’s road to success did not necessarily get off to the best of starts. After graduation from college, she went back to the elementary school where she had previously been a student teacher. There was a specific class of students that were struggling, and she knew that she had the talent and skills it would take to turn those kids around. During the interview, the principal told her that she didn’t see it and that Diane needed to look for another line of work.” Diane represents a perfect example of strength gained through perseverance and a firm belief in purpose and skill.
You can hear the rest of the story in this interview, but needless to say, she has had a great career in education since 1987 working her way all the way up to the position of superintendent. Diane’s journey is a true success story.
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